Age of Demons

Chapter 26 - Jace

Detroit Safe House

It had been a week. One whole week at the Detroit Safe House.

Jace mainly kept to himself. Either in his room or in the mini library two floors down. He'd tried seeing Ash again, but she came back from hunting demons late, and only some nights she accompanied him to the roof. He didn't like her being put on the line, and he still wanted to be out there with her, but he never saw Zamara anywhere.

He stared up at the white emptiness of the ceiling. The paint slowly turned pale gray as the sun set.

Then some light spilled in, splashing a yellow glow across the gray. Someone was standing in the doorway, a shadow, who reached over and flicked on the light switch.

"What are you doing in the dark?" Des asked.

Jace shielded his eyes. "Haven't seen you for some time." He and Des were roommates. But while Jace stayed in the room a lot, Des barely showed.

He heard him grunt and then footsteps thumping. "Been busy." Des shuffled about the room, his dresser drawers sliding open and clacking shut.

A thought popped into Jace's head. How him and Des were different. Jace moved his head to the side to view Des. Jace allowed the demon's vitality to light his eyes, and he stared into the demon that inhabited Des. It ebbed like silken trails of smoke, but was as thick and dark as a cloud bloated with rainwater. "You remember before, don't you? Before the demons came."

"Yes."

"You remember your life?"

"Unfortunately."

"What do you remember?"

Des straightened in his position of crouching before the dresser, seemingly picking out clothes. He didn't answer for a while. "It was a world worse than this one." Des squinted at Jace over his shoulder. "You probably wouldn't agree."

"What was so bad about it?"

Des shook his head. "Because... before there were demons, I..." He rose up all of a sudden, leaving a small pile of his clothes on the floor. "I have to go."
Des left, the door clicking in place behind him. It happened so fast, Jace didn't have time to process what Des had said, or hadn't said. Jace blinked, letting go of the demon's sight, and pushed himself up from the bed. Jace had always been aware that Des processed and acted differently than him—more intensely. He thought back to Deliverance, how he always resided in the shadows while Des played out of the line of care, always pushing his limits to see how much further he could go.

"Always with the mystery," Jace mumbled before forcing himself out of the bed. A sense of urgency suddenly burst into life in his veins, influencing him to act on impulse. Jace put on his shoes and left the room. He scanned the hall. It was empty. He jogged over to the staircase and sprinted down the steps.

When he touched the floor, he heard the thump of the gate to the tunnels closing.

Where are you going? Quickly, he lifted it open and entered the tunnels. He could just make out a shadow up ahead, with a long trench coat. Gotcha.

Jace trailed Des, trying to be as quiet as possible. Des's shadow climbed the ladder and opened the hatch. For a few seconds, bright light spilled into the tunnels and then disappeared. Jace ran to the metal rungs and pulled himself up. He shoved open the hatch and climbed out. The light briefly blinded him, but even squinting he knew where he was. The main asylum building.